CHRISTINA D'ADAMIO

Last updated13:56, August 4 2017

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Not all movement is good movement when it comes to weight loss.

If you want to maximise your workout and lose weight faster, you might want to rethink your workout routine.

We consulted with DrLuiza Petre, board-certified cardiologist and weight management specialist, to get you the worst exercises for fat loss (and what to do instead).

It's important to remember that not all exercises lead to weight loss.

MURRAY WILSON/STUFF

CrossFit isn't for beginners. If you're not in tip-top shape, it's best to opt for a less intense workout.

"While weight loss is an awesome side effect of working out, exercise can benefit your brain, your mood, and your overall health, too," Petre says.

READ MORE:* 'Dramatic' weight loss possible without counting calories* Why is exercise useless for weight loss?* Expensive meal plans not needed for weight loss* 10 best exercises for weight loss

Extended cardio sessions can lead to muscle loss if they're not balanced with strength training.

"However, not all movement is good movement when it comes to weight loss. While I encourage all types of fitness for more reasons than just weight loss, if your focus is dropping pounds, you should know that not all forms of exercise are as effective for weight loss as others.

"In fact, there may be more bad exercises than good ones when it comes to losing weight and building muscle."

Instead, give strength training a chance. The not-so-simple workout can do wonders for your fat loss plans.

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Yup, they're great abs. Nope, you're not getting them by doing 500 crunches a day and nothing else.

"If you do any kind of strengthening or toning exercises to stay healthy and to remove inches, I encourage all efforts, for more reasons than just weight loss," she adds.

"But if your number one goal is weight loss, you may want to reprioritise your workout schedule. And most importantly, if you are doing an exercise that causes you real pain, your body is trying to tell you 'STOP!' But do not go to the other extreme and completely neglect strength training."

That being said, if you want to slim down, don't put your body through stress just to reach your goals.

ALTER EGO

An average 68kg person will burn only 150 calories in an hour of doing regular yoga.

"The key to all weight loss goals, and health improvement at the same time, without bringing your body to the risk of injury, is balance," Petre says. "Start with a good, healthy balance of strength training and a bit of cardio to build your endurance so you can continue shedding pounds and reach your goals."

WORST: CROSSFIT

"CrossFit-style workouts are exploding in popularity around the world and are often promoted as the best way to get in shape and improve health," Petre says.

MARY FITZGERALD/STUFF

Boot camp: A great way to share the pain and shed the pounds.

"I don't want to be controversial, but if your goal is to lose weight and improve health, CrossFit is the number one exercise you should avoid. It's too intense for many people, and often includes high-risk activities."

"The number one rule about losing weight through exercise is that you can't exercise to lose weight if you're injured," she adds.

"If you're a fit, active, and athletic individual, CrossFit might be the best workout for you, but if your body is not already in top shape, don't unnecessarily risk injury. You're likely to lose more weight if you combine a healthy diet with a moderate exercise program that's more sustainable."

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Lifting weights has been shown to increase resting metabolic rate, which means you continue to burn calories after working out.

WORST: YOGA

"Yoga represents the polar opposite to CrossFit, but this doesn't mean that it will shed those layers of fast food on the body," Petre says. "In fact, a 150-pound [68kg] person will burn only 150 calories in an hour of doing regular yoga, compared to 311 calories for an hour of walking at 3mph [4.8kmh]."

"Increasing your physical activity is a good first step towards losing weight," she says. "It's true that yoga can help you gain strength and tone up, but if you aim to shed pounds, you want to work as much of your body as possible to lose weight and stimulate your metabolism."

WORST: EXTENDED CARDIO SESSIONS

"If you're only doing cardio and not balancing with strength training, it can lead to muscle loss, which is not ideal," Petre says.

"Strength training builds lean muscle mass, which increases both your metabolism and decreases fat. The more muscle you build, the more calories you burn on a day-to-day basis."

"From a cost-benefit angle, extended low-effort exercise, such as steady state cardio, can burn more fat in relative terms, but not in absolute amounts," she adds.

"What counts the most is your overall calorie expenditure, not the fuel source. But before you switch to high-intensity training, remember that this type of exercise is not without a risk of injury. Preserve muscle mass by keeping your cardio workouts to approximately three 30-minute sessions per week."

WORST: PILATES

"Pilates, like yoga, has a lot of health benefits that will help you live better, ranging from improved flexibility and balance to deeper relaxation, but fast fat burn is not one of them," Petre says.

"Because it helps you gradually build and strengthen your muscles, it can be a great way to prevent getting injured while training. However, you need to do heavy compound weightlifting on the big muscle groups along with cardio to maximise fat loss, and Pilates does not incorporate either type of exercise."

WORST: SPOT REDUCTION EXERCISES

"Many people want to lose fat from one specific part of their bodies," Petre says. "But, due to human genetics, we cannot pick and choose areas to burn fat from. This means that if you wish to trim down your midsection, performing only abdominal exercises is not going to give you the results you want.

"The same is true for every other body part and muscle group. Why? Because the only thing exercises target is your muscles, not the fat that is covering the muscles.

"You can lose that fat only by creating caloric deficit through a combination of diet and exercise. In other words, you should consume less calories than you burn, forcing your body to burn your own stored body fat for energy instead."

BEST: TABATA

"Tabata is a dream come true for anyone whose biggest excuse for skipping a workout is lack of time," Petre says.

"It's designed to be just a few minutes of high-intensity interval training that consists of 20 seconds of hard effort, followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated eight times.

"The best thing about Tabata is that you can perform these short trainings with your own body weight in the comfort of your own home. Simply pick four exercises, such as jump rope, squats, squat jumps, and mountain climbers, then do each for 20 seconds as hard and fast as you can.

"It will raise your heart rate, pump up your muscles and increase your fitness level."

BEST: BOOT CAMP

"You'll definitely lose extra weight and boost your cardio fitness with this type of training," Petre says.

"Boot camp training takes the military workout out of basic training and into gyms and homes everywhere. Typical boot camp workouts combine intense aerobic exercise with muscle building, resistance exercises, and challenges that boost flexibility and coordination.

"These workout programs are so popular because they work every muscle group, don't require any equipment, and can be done anywhere. Daily boot camp training burns fat and builds muscle, therefore increasing weight loss and supporting maintenance of a healthy weight."

BEST: STRENGTH TRAINING

"If weight loss is a goal, incorporating strength training into your routine is essential," Petre says. "The key to shedding pounds is a strong foundation, and the best way to build muscle is with weights.

"Lifting weights has been shown to increase resting metabolic rate, which means you continue to burn calories after working out. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn throughout the day. By increasing your base metabolic rate [BMR]and burning more calories at rest, you also increase your calorie deficit, which is necessary for weight loss.

"While it's true that cardio-only routines get your heart working harder and help your body burn calories, strength training is what will give your weight-loss goals that extra boost," Petre adds. "This doesn't mean that cardio training should be completely ignored.

"Weight lifting, cardioand your diet combine to make your body burn fat for fuel instead of muscle. Practice these types of training three times a week to burn around 1 to 1.5 pounds of fat per week."

BEST: HIGH-INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING (HIIT)

"High-intensity interval training is a form of exercise characterised by periods of hard work followed by brief periods of recovery or rest," Petre says.

"You can perform it using various cardio formats, gym equipment, and weighted or bodyweight exercises. When you do high-intensity interval training, your body and metabolism function at a higher rate of burned calories for hours afterwards. It means you're burning calories while watching your favourite TV show in the comfort of your home.

"According to the American College of Sports Medicine, this type of workout routine tends to burn anywhere from 6-15 per cent more calories compared to other training methods, thanks to the calories you burn after you exercise.

"High-intensity interval training can be performed up to fourtimes per week. The only downside is that it takes your body quite a bit of time to recover, and you can physically only do it for 20-30 minutes at a time before you become too exhausted to continue.

"If you listen to your bodyand pay attention to results, this type of workout will take your training to the next level."

BEST: STRENGTH-BASED CIRCUIT TRAINING

"Compared to traditional strength training, strength-based circuit training will help you lose more fat while still building muscle," Petre says.

"Since you're performing high-intensity movements with short rest periods, you will also get the added benefits of metabolic conditioning. It's slightly less intense than HIIT or Tabata as it's less about short bursts of maximum effort and more about completing quality exercises with good form over a longer duration set.

"Strength-based circuit training is very effective at helping burn fat," adds Petre. "It provides both strength and cardio benefits, it takes less time than a normal strength workout, and focusing on the entire body in a single workout maximises calorie burn and movement function."

- This story original appeared at Rodalewellness.com.

-MCT

See the article here:
The five worst exercises for fat loss - and what to do instead - Stuff.co.nz

(Reuters Health) - People who get weight-loss surgery before they gain enough weight to become whats known as morbidly obese are less likely to remain obese after the operation than heavier patients, a recent study suggests.

One year after bariatric surgery, only about one-third of patients lost enough weight to no longer qualify as obese, the study found. People who werent morbidly obese when they had surgery were over 12 times more likely to achieve this goal within a year, researchers report in JAMA Surgery.

Our research suggests that waiting until a patients body mass index (BMI) is extremely high can hamper the benefits of undergoing bariatric surgery because these patients will have a lower likelihood of achieving the type of weight loss that leads to a healthy BMI, said lead study author Dr. Oliver Varban, director of the Adult Bariatric Program at Michigan Medicine, the University of Michigans academic medical center in Ann Arbor.

What we learned in this study is that patients and referring physicians should consider bariatric surgery as a primary therapy for obesity rather than the last resort, Varban said by email.

Globally, 1.9 billion adults are overweight or obese, according to the World Health Organization. Obesity increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, joint disorders and certain cancers.

Body mass Index (BMI) is a ratio of weight to height, and a way of estimating obesity. Having a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered a healthy weight, 25 to 29.9 is overweight, 30 or above is obese and 40 or higher is what's known as morbidly obese.

An adult who is 5 9 tall and weighs from 125 to 168 pounds, for example, would have a healthy weight and a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An obese adult at that height would weigh at least 203 pounds and have a BMI of 30 or more.

Previous research has found obese people often struggle to shed excess pounds or keep weight off when they do lose it. Lifestyle changes such as following a healthy diet and getting regular exercise can often help in the short-term but fail to produce lasting results, particularly among people who have more than 100 pounds to lose before reaching a healthy weight.

Bariatric surgery has been shown to be the most effective treatment for morbid obesity, the study authors write.

Even though people with a BMI over 30 are considered obese, they may not get bariatric surgery until their BMI reaches 40 unless they have diabetes or other obesity-related health problems.

For the current study, researchers examined data on 27320 adults who had weight-loss surgery in Michigan between June 2006 and May 2015.

On average, the patients had a BMI of 48 before their operation, and got down to 33 by the end of the first year.

Overall, just over 9,700 patients, or 36 percent, achieved a BMI under 30.

Only 8.5 percent of patients who had a BMI greater than 50 achieved a BMI of less than 30 after bariatric surgery, the study found. That compares to 31 percent of people who started out with a BMI of less than 40.

Patients who did manage to get their BMI below 30 had better odds of seeing improvements in obesity-related health problems, the study also found.

Compared to patients who remained obese a year after surgery, people who achieved a BMI of less than 30 were more likely to stop taking medications to control high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and diabetes. They were also more likely to achieve remission of an obesity-related breathing disorder known as sleep apnea.

The study wasnt a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how having a lower BMI before surgery influences the odds of becoming non-obese afterwards.

Still, the findings suggest some obese people might not necessarily need to wait until theyre heavier to benefit from surgery, said Dr. Bruce Wolfe, author of an accompanying editorial and a bariatric surgery researcher at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.

These data demonstrate that this population with lower BMI appears every bit as likely to benefit from surgically induced weight loss than would be expected if they waited until they were more severely obese, Wolfe said by email.

There are more people in the U.S. with a BMI between 30 and 35 than there are with BMIs above 35, Wolfe noted.

Thus, a very large number of patients would possibly become surgical candidates, Wolfe said.

SOURCE: bit.ly/2hqZuNx and bit.ly/2wpOKS5 JAMA Surgery, online July 26, 2017.

See original here:
Weight-loss surgery may work better when patients aren't too obese - Reuters

Oprah Winfreyhas somehow managed to carve out a private life for herself,despitebeing one of the most famous women alive.

She goes out with longtime partner Stedman Graham,she and BFF Gayle Kingare nothing if not the picture of vacation goals and, obviously, if you end up on a yacht with Barack and Michelle Obama, Tom Hanks and Bruce Springsteen, long-lens photos will be taken. But for the most part,she haspointedlykept the particulars of her personal relationships largely under wraps.

Except for one, that is.

Namely, her highly public relationship with her weight. That love-hate relationship has been playing out on TV and the covers of magazines for years.

Even if you're not a fan of Winfrey for whatever reason (that much success, combined with her longevity, relative ubiquity and her status as one of the most powerful African-American women in the world, in 2017one of the world's only two black female billionaires,has certainly made her a target for haters as well), you're most likely familiar with Oprah's roller-coaster weight loss journeywhich, at this point, is as much a part of her life story as anything.

Thatstory has been told time and again, and it never gets less impressive. Though we've yet to check in with everybody, ever, it can often feelas if no one has made more of her life after starting off withless than Winfrey has.Over the course of her career, a trajectory that dreams are made of, Winfreyhas simply become one of the most influential personalitiesof all time.

Said to be worth roughly $3.1 billion now, her lifestyle rocketed past "attainable" decades ago, but there are countless ways in which Winfrey has endeared herself to people of all ages and from all walks of lifestarting with her warm, boomingpersonality that makes you feel as if you've known her for years.Then again, we have known the 63-year-old multi-hyphenatefor years, be it through her talk show, her magazine, her philanthropy, her cable channel or everything else that made heracting careerwhichwould have been significanton its owninto almost a hobby, something she's returned to on and off over the years when she felt like it, when the right projects came along as a performer orproducer. (We're in the midst of a scripted-Oprah renaissance, with the recent HBO movieThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and the upcoming big-screen adaptation ofA Wrinkle in Time.)

Butwhile she's never been one to shy away from sharing her life's considerable low points (they're part of why she's such an inspiration to so many), including the emotional effects of crashdieting and her other stabs at rapid weight loss over the years, it's still hard to picture Winfreythe queen of self-reliance and self-made glorynot having conquer-the-world-level self-esteem. Because if she's not living her best life 24/7, what hope is there for everyone else?

AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

Yet that's exactly why Winfrey has been sharingthe gritty details of her relationship with food and weight since the 1980s, after she lost 67pounds with the help of a liquid diet and daily 6.5 mile runs, only to gain it (and more) right back.

At first she tried to make weight losslook, if not easy, then perfectlyattainable, pulling a wagon loaded with 67 pounds of gloppy fat behind her onThe Oprah Winfrey Showin 1988 on an episode called "Diet Dreams Come True," a visual that still resonates to this day, while showing off her trimmer figure in tightly beltedjeans and a sleek black turtleneck.

But it soon became painfully clear to Winfrey (and subsequently to everyone following along) that maintaining a weight that she found acceptable would end up beinga lifelong fixation. She toldPeople in 1991, "I thought I was cured.And that's just not true. You have to find a way to live in the world with food." In 1996 she co-authored with Bob GreeneA Journal of Daily Renewal: The Companion to Make the Connection, about staying in touch with your body's needs. Winfrey looked as thin as ever on the cover.

In a 2002 essay forO Magazine called "What I Know for Sure About Making Peace With My Body," she wrote that she went to her first "diet doctor" in 1977, when she was 23, and "thus began the cycle of discontent."

"Around 1995, after years of yo-yoing, I finally realized that being grateful to my body, whatever shape it was in, was key to giving more love to myself," she wrote. "Although I'd made the connection intellectually, living it was a different story."

In 2009, a current photo of Oprah shared a cover ofO with a photo of a slimmer 2005 Oprah, with the quote, "'How did I let this happen again?'"

There's a reason whyweight loss is a multi-billion-dollar industryone that Winfrey herself recently bought into after already having done more for the national diet conversation than almost any celebrity over the past 30 years.

Hyperion

Just over two years ago, she bought a 10 percent stake in Weight Watchersfor $43 million.Strategic business move, sure, but also perhaps an emotional one. According toThe New York Times Magazine, the companyhad extended many invitations to Winfrey over the years to get involvedwiththe company, but it wasn't until she had gained 17 pounds whilenursing asprained anklethat she decided the timing was right in July 2015.

Weight Watchers' stock enjoyed a massiveOprah bump and soon "I love bread" was everyone's favorite new mantra. By September 2016, however, approximately $1 billion that had been gained on paper during those heady early days of Winfrey's involvement had reportedly disappeared and CEO Jim Chambers stepped down.

But if anyone has learned anything over the past several decades, it's to never count Oprah Winfrey out. WhenOWN launched in 2011 it was immediately plaguedby stories that it was struggling, plagued by ratings, programming and, summarily, financial issues. Andit was plagued by all of that, butby 2013 Team Winfrey had turned it around, thanks to, among other things, a win-winproduction deal with Tyler Perryand strong ratings for Winfrey's interview seriesOprah's Next Chapter.

Similarly, Winfrey's visible presence has since attracted more people to Weight Watchers. Per the NY Times, membership was up to 2.8 million peoplewithin a year of Oprah buying in, and stood at 3.6 million bythe end of the first quarter of 2017, Weight Watchers'fourth straight quarter of reported revenue growth. Mindy Grossman, formerly CEO of HSN, signed on as the company's new chief executive in April.

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Yet all thistalk about weight on Winfrey's part, though nothing new, has generated a new group of critics who don't think that being skinnier should be on anyone's list of prioritieswhen it comes to self-worth, and Winfrey's continued public efforts to look a certain way is sending adistressing and archaic message.

We won't say those criticsare fighting a losing battle, but it's stillan uphill one. Even in this day and age when messages of body positivity, body diversity, acceptance and inclusion are more prominent than ever, there's a century of misguided precedent when it comes to what people (mainly women)should look like if they intend to look their "best."

So fornow, Winfrey remains afamous voice voicing universal concerns. It's not as though she only talks about skinny jeans and size 2s. Shewants to be healthy and feel good, physically and mentallyand it's not very sporting of people to suggest that her feelings about her own body areinvalid. It's not right toshamethose who would like to lose weight, as though they can't still be strong or empowered or are otherwise betraying womanhood by wanting to look a certain way, any more than it's OKto shame someone's weight in general.

Besides, maintaining a certain weightis important toher. She's not saying it should be important to everybody.

As an influencer, Winfrey is perfectly aware that it's not de rigeur to admit you care about what size you are.

"This whole P.C. about accepting yourself as you areyou should, 100 percent," Winfrey agreed in an interview with The New York Times Magazine. Butin response to questions about the prospect ofaccepting one'sbody as it is (whatever that means, really), she explained, "For your heart to pump, pump, pump, pump, it needs the least amount of weight possible to do that. So all of the people who are saying, 'Oh, I need to accept myself as I am'I can't accept myself if I'm over 200 pounds, because it's too much work on my heart. It causes high blood pressure for me. It puts me at risk for diabetes, because I have diabetes in my family."

In January, Winfrey proudly revealed thatshe had lost 42 pounds on Weight Watchers since beginning the program in 2015.

"Before, when I was 150 pounds, I'd imagine getting up to 200 pounds, and think, 'Oh my God,'" she saidin O Magazine."But now I think, 'I never thought that at 200 poundsI could look in the mirror and love my body, love myself, not chide and minimize myself for being 200 pounds.' At 200 pounds, I was OK. I have never, ever, ever been at that point. And then at 190 pounds, I was OK. If I don't lose another pound right now, I'm still OK.

"The fullness of life, the fullness of being, the self-acceptanceI'd never done that before. I'd always beaten myself up because I was tied to a number."

Winfreycontinued, "When the weight started to come off, I needed to get clear on my intention. I could lose weight to fit a dress size, or attend an event, or to make other people like me. But I couldn't keep it off for those reasons. I always put the weight back on. This time I changed the intention to, 'I want to be the healthiest I can bephysically, emotionally, spiritually.' So the process and purpose of losing shifted for me.It was easier, because my intention was clearer."

It may not be cool to admit you care about your weight, but it's real as hell. And honestyremains one of our favorite things.

Read the original here:
Oprah Winfrey's 40-Year Weight Loss Struggle: Inside the Billionaire Star's Ongoing Quest for Self-Acceptance - E! Online

SANTA CLARA Day 6 was by far the most physical day of 49ers training camp, and Kyle Shanahan wanted it just that way.

Undrafted safeties Lorenzo Jerome and Chanceller James, trying to prove themselves, were leveling ball carriers to the turf. Vance McDonald rammed through Ahkello Witherspoon near the goal line. Eric Reid returned from his ankle injury and was flying around. The cracking of pads was happening on nearly every play

I want them to turn it up a little bit, Shanahan said minutes after practice. I was trying to get the idea of how we want to practice how to be physical but still not take people to the ground. I thought they did a better job of that today.

One reason why this 49ers training camp has a different feel to it: weight loss.Players have said shedding pounds has given the team more endurance. Shanahan and John Lynch required several key members of the team to come back weighing as light as they ever have in the NFL. Arik Armstead lost 15 pounds, Aaron Lynch shed 25, Carlos Hyde got as low as 224 pounds. Gargantuan right tackle Trent Brown got in on the action. Even a seasoned pro like Ahmad Brooks was asked to drop five pounds.

Those who have been around the 49ers organization for a couple seasons have noticed a dramatic change. Chip Kellys system was fast, but he didnt require the players to be in shape quite like this.

I feel like overall, endurance-wise, our team is at a level we havent been at, McDonald said. They want you to be able to look the same on the 75th play as you do on the first play. (And) In terms of just intensity, thats going to come from guys being able to go harder and longer. Like even there at the end of practice, we were still banging and it was well into it.

The trickle down impact of a more explosive football team is a ratcheted up practice. McDonald said Shanahan has done a solid job of making training campfeel more like games. In the last two days, some periods of 11-on-11s have been unscripted. The offense is trying to drive the length of the field on the defense, both units are making substitutions and penalties are called by refs. The next day in the meeting room, Shanahan declares winners of these scrimmages in front of the team, raising the stakes considering how many roster spots are up for grabs.

Its much more game-like, game-feel, McDonald said. Youre just out there and are like, Holy smokes. This really is a 13-play drive. You dont get a lot of opportunities to do that, and get real kind of game-like situation stuff in practice.

Its Shanahans mandate to have a lighter football team, but strength coach Ray Wright deserves much of the credit. Players have said hes created more of a college atmosphere with innovative workouts. The massive hill next to the practice field is the latest example of Wright and the 49ers trying to push the boundaries. Players have said Wright has been much more involved in picking out dietary supplements and specific training regimens.

Heres the rest of what happened Thursday:

-Carlos Hyde caught five passes in 11-on-11 drills and has been one of the best 49ers players during training camp. Talk of cutting him seems laughable. Hes treated training camp practices like they are regular season games. Exhibit A: running over an unsuspecting Ahkello Witherspoon. There will be pressure on him to perform once the regular season begins, but Hydes been mostly terrific six days into camp. If he displays hands like that in September, he could actually receive a big bag of cash as a free agent in 2018.

-NaVorro Bowman and Brock Coyle sat out of practice, giving Reuben Foster his first-ever regular reps with the starting unit. The rookie deflected a pass at the line and was used as a blitzer, forcing two errant throws on his pressures. Fosters problem? Malcolm Smith has been everywhere in training camp and was disruptive in the running game on Thursday. Those two might platoon at WILL linebacker for the first part of 2017.

-Inside linebacker is sneakily the best position on the roster. Ray-Ray Armstrong added an interception and seems like a lock for the 53-man roster. Coyle is a highly-regarded special-teamer. Fosters potential might be the highest on the team. And of course Bowman is as consistent as they come.

-Another strong day from Brian Hoyer, who found Marquise Goodwin for a 45-yard gain. Reporters charted Hoyer going 17-for-22. Again, his accuracyis arguably the biggest change about this football team. The Hoyer-Goodwin pairing has beenas close to lethal as you can get for training camp.

-McDonald has looked like the most consistent tight end so far in camp. Unless he shows nothing in the preseason, it would be hard to imagine cutting him. Cole Hikutini has quieted down after a strong performance on Monday. George Kittle is assumed to be the only roster lock at the position.

-Jed York continues to be a constant figure at practice. He was barely visible last year under Chip Kelly and Trent Baalke.

Continue reading here:
Camp observations: Weight loss program has changed endurance of 49ers - KNBR (blog)

Its a warm, sunny day here on Long Island, and with last nights games washed away with a completely flooded field, Im antsy to get shit done today! In a couple of hours, Ill be heading out for 56 hours worth of client appointments before turning in for the night. This intentional schedule change of pushing my appointments to the afternoon and early evening has really helped me to sleep better, as I tend to get anxious when I know I have an early AM session.

Ive done this thing since I was a kid where if I had something early to wake up for, I was always up AT LEAST half an hour before my alarm went off, wired and nervous that it wouldnt actually go off Sometimes, Id even wake up in a sweat thinking that Id set the wrong time! Of course, in the entirety of my life (which is now at nearly 29 years), Ive only ever forgotten to set my alarm ONCE, and inaccurately set it just a handful of times!! By not having anything scheduled prior to noon, Im able to let my body wake itself up naturally, and put myself first way ahead of any prescheduled appointments:-)

Now, if I could just figure out how to do that for Tuesdays, the only day where I have to wake up at a specific time (and it aint a pleasant one:-/)

Anyway, today Id like to discuss how to keep yourself motivated on your weight loss journey. When I first meet with new clients, they seem to think that in order to lose weight, they have to eat grilled chicken and broccoli at every meal, and do insane amounts of exercise! This is incredibly misguided, and can lead to some serious falling off the wagon!!

Just think about it for a second from personal experience: If you set a weight loss goal of, say, 25 lbs, and you were eating the same 12 meals per day and dragging yourself to a gym to perform workouts you had no interest in doing, how does that motivate you to continue? On a day where things really go awry in both your work and your personal lives, youll probably skimp on your restrictions, which will result in AT LEAST a 24 hour binge of junk food and inactivity.

For me, back when I was commuting for four hours per day, working a full day, and starving myself prior to working out on fumes in the evening, there were WEEKS where Id fly off the rails because I couldnt take the constant restrictions anymore. My office would sometimes order the staff lunch, which would consist of pizza and other delectable local Italian fare. The result was me going to town on massive quantities of crap! This would then cascade into uncontrolled bingeing for the next 37 days, which obviously wouldnt do me or my goals any good.

What I found worked best for me (and for most of my clients) is to have a VARIETY of foods and fitness at your disposal! This way, if you were getting bored of a certain meal or of a certain type of workout, you could change it up and move on to another

Take food, for example: I go through these phases where Ill eat some scrambled eggs, bacon and avocado for breakfast. Often, this will be my breakfast every day for MONTHS! However, after a while, Ill get bored of this breakfast, and will then have to change things up!!

Fortunately, Ive never been a pancake or a waffle kind of guy, so these were never breakfasts that appealed to me. I was, however, a big sugary cereal fiend, feasting on non-nutritious junk like Frosted Flakes, Fruit Loops and Fruity Pebbles. When the eggs would get old and Id want to move on to something else, I found a HEALTHY cereal recipe that wouldnt overload me with sugar and toxic chemicals, and Id switch to that until I get sick of it.

You can find that recipe, as well as 71 others spanning breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, appetizers and desserts by checking out my Healthy Recipe Book at http://www.weightlossbypete.com/healthyrecipes.

On the fitness side, Ive been adamant about changing things up. As you probably know by now, Im an avid softball player, and typically play 23 days per week during my free time. During the other days, Ill mix it up by performing interval training workouts, by running, and by even practicing yoga. I literally dont have a pre-determined weekly plan: Ill wake up, see what I feel like doing, and Ill do THAT!

Now, you probably have much different tastes in food and in fitness than I do Thats perfectly fine! Figure out what those are, and use those as a kind of rolodex for making healthier choices. In the long run, thats how you establish consistency, and thats how you get to the promised land!

P.S. If you feel you need more help on the nutritional side, then youre definitely going to want to invest in my Food Guide and Healthy Recipe Book!

The Food Guide lays out the three phases of nutrition I use with my Permanent Weight Loss clients. Phase 1 gets you in the habit of making healthier choices, while Phase 2 really cleans up the frequency with which you eat healthier. Phase 3 is a strict macronutrient breakdown that will help expedite the process of weight loss, all while improving your health and making your body a well-oiled machine!

My Healthy Recipe Book includes 72 recipes spanning breakfast,lunch, dinner, snacks, appetizers and desserts. Im constantly adding to it, but these recipes are easy to make, simple and enable you to have your cake and eat it, too!

Normally, I sell each of these books for $10 a piece, but because Im feeling generous today, you can get BOTH for just $13.99!:-)

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How to Stay Motivated on Your Weight Loss Journey! - HuffPost